Flavor

The Salt Lick is Named the Most Iconic Restaurant in Texas

Look at that lettuce kidding itself. The Salt Lick special with brisket, a rack of pork ribs and turkey.

When it comes to The Salt Lick, barbecue lovers freely dole out the superlatives. The sprawling Hill Country joint is world-renowned as a must-visit mecca for meat lovers and continues to be a mainstay on just about every best barbecue list. Now Thrillist has crowned the Driftwood destination as the most iconic restaurant in Texas.

Now "most iconic" is a seemingly definitive, yet vague distinction. To single out a restaurant for each state, Thrillist used only two criteria: the business must have operated for over 30 years and had to remain a crowd favorite. The Salt Lick handily met both. Since opening in 1967, millions of diners from around the world have made the pilgrimage to Central Texas, lured by The Salt Lick's open smoke pits and promises of meat sweat ecstasy. And even with a growing number of competitors vying for the best barbecue crown, the family-owned business continues to draw 600,000 visitors every year and serves one million pounds of slow-cooked, mouth-watering brisket annually.

Sure, Kruez's, Cooper's and other joints deserve a place on the pantheon of great barbecue, but with its storied history and rustic setting, The Salt Lick is perhaps the most quintessentially Texan.